⚾️ Scherzer Injury Muddies Rangers' Playoff Push

The Rangers are winning again, but they've lost two aces. Can their offense carry them? [View in browser]( In today’s FOX Sports Insider with guest writer Rowan Kavner: How does Max Scherzer’s injury impact the wild card race? … Who are the best edge rushers in the NFL? … and more! Wednesday should've been a time for baseball fans in North Texas to rejoice. After a recent stretch dropping 16 of 20 games, the Rangers' freefall was over. A trip to Toronto provided a welcome reprieve. Dane Dunning outdueled Chris Bassitt on Monday to help Texas jump Seattle for the third wild-card spot. A day later, Max Scherzer's 5.1 scoreless innings helped the Rangers overtake the Blue Jays for the second wild-card spot in a captivating race. The Rangers were gathering steam. And then came the latest setback. Before capturing their third win of the series and their fifth straight victory overall Wednesday — a 10-0 thrashing — the grim news arrived: Scherzer, who departed Tuesday's game early, is unlikely to return this year. With one out in the sixth inning, the rotation-headlining acquisition looped a curveball in for a strike. As Jonah Heim prepared to make a return throw, the Rangers catcher paused. A wince and a brief pitter-patter around the mound from Scherzer indicated something was off. Scherzer assumed it was a triceps spasm. He felt the muscle start to tighten while warming up for the inning and thought he could manage it. He pushed through a seven-pitch at-bat with George Springer to begin the inning. Then came a more jarring charley-horse sensation after his first pitch to Bo Bichette. For the rest of the story, [click here.]( [STORY IMAGE 1] [IN OTHER WORDS] - Edge rushers are second only to quarterbacks in the NFL hierarchy. Who are the league's best? We [ranked the top 10]( and went through what makes them special. - The Cowboys' swarming pass rush received most of the praise in crushing the Giants, but the Dallas [secondary has a chance to be special]( too, Ralph Vacchiano writes. - Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson have appeared in every game this season. Austin Riley has missed two. [How come Atlanta won't rest its starters]( Jake Mintz has the story. - After decades of scoring woes, the U.S. men suddenly have a two young, prolific, European-based strikers [vying for the starting job up front]( writes Doug McIntyre. For the latest news and updates, [click here.]( [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles (FOX, 7:15 p.m. ET) The Rays and Orioles collide with each looking to take another step towards a potential American League East title. Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles (PRIME VIDEO, 8:15 p.m. ET) The defending NFC champion Eagles return home to take on the Vikings in Philadelphia. For all of today's games and scores, [click here](. [BET OF THE DAY] No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions at Illinois Fighting Illini (+15), 12 p.m. on FOX and FOX Sports App Pick: Illinois to lose by fewer than 15 points, or win outright From FOX Sports Wagering Expert: Chris “The Bear” Fallica There isn't much on paper to like about Illinois' first two games. The Illini were very fortunate to beat Toledo and were never in the game at Kansas, as it was 28-7 at the half and 34-7 in the third quarter. It was expected Illinois' defense might take a step back this year and it has. But conference road games can be tricky, especially against teams coming off a poor performance. This will be Drew Allar's first road start and the Nittany Lions as a whole have had trouble lately with their first road game of the season — last year it needed some help from Purdue coach Jeff Brohm in a 35-31 comeback win against the Boilermakers. In 2021, it beat a down Wisconsin team by six points, and in 2020 lost at Indiana in overtime. Penn State is better and should win, but I expect Illinois to play its best game of the season here. Is it enough to hang in there? We'll find out. For the latest betting odds, [click here](. [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download FOX Sports App: [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [Google Play]( [App Store]( [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [App Store]( [Google Play]( Also available on these devices: [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV | Vizio | LG Smart TV] [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV | Vizio | LG Smart TV] Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2023 Fox Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. Fox.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, California 90213-0900